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La Roux

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La Roux

La Roux (Template:Pron-en) are a British electropop synth duo band made up of singer and synth player Elly Jackson, and co-writer and co-producer Ben Langmaid, with Jackson describing their respective roles as "very much a half and half sharing situation... not like a singer producer outfit", but also recognising that it often can "look like a solo act".[1] Their music is influenced by 1980s synth pop including Human League, Heaven 17, Blancmange and Yazoo. Jackson claims to have found a book of baby names in a bin and saw in it the name La Roux, French for "the red" (refering to her hair)(although the actual French would be "La Rousse" [2] or La Rouquine [3]). After La Roux struggled for a time, Jackson's father passed some of the group's demos to a friend who had connections in the industry.[4]

Band members

Elly Jackson

Eleanor "Elly" Jackson is the daughter of actress Trudie Goodwin. Elly's birthday is March 8th 1988.[5] Jackson grew up in the Herne Hill area of London. Jackson attended what she describes as a "rightwing, really religious school" where she was bullied because of her androgynous style.[4]

Her first interest in music revolved around folk music. She was particularly interested in Carole King and Nick Drake whom she discovered in her parents' record collection. Her early musical material consisted of folk ditties informed by Joni Mitchell. Jackson's taste in music changed during her mid teens when she became involved in the rave scene.[4]

An 'on-and-off' relationship Jackson has been in for the last 5 years has provided the material for La Roux's debut album.[4]

She's also an ugly ginger.

Ben Langmaid

Langmaid, who prefers to stay in the background, is a London based producer and composer who has been involved with other music projects in the past but has finally found in La Roux the suitable project to let his long term passion for 80s electro-pop shine through.

Career

La Roux first single, "Quicksand", was released by independent record label Kitsuné Music in November 2008. Without any charting success, La Roux were dropped by the label. They were then signed by Polydor Records.

La Roux (2009)

La Roux's second single "In for the Kill" was released on 16 March, 2009, and prominent dubstep producer Skream has created a remix of the track[6] as well as one being made by Lifelike.[7] "In for the Kill" debuted at number 11 in the UK Singles Chart on 22 March 2009, peaking at number 2 to date. "Bulletproof" was released on the 22 June 2009 and debuted at number 1 in the UK Singles Chart.[8] Polydor released La Roux's debut album in the week following La Roux's success in the British music charts.[9]

In order to promote La Roux, the band were the supporting act on Lily Allen's UK tour of March 2009.[10] La Roux will headline the Samsung NME Radar Tour 2009 and play alongside Magistrates, Heartbreak and The Chapman Family.[11] They are also scheduled to perform at the Glastonbury , Reading, Oxegen and Leeds festivals as well as the Scala, Southend Chinnerys and Coventry Kasbah venues. [8][12]. From 22 July through the 7 August La Roux will tour North America. The eight city tour will include performances at the QC Osheaga Festival, All Points West Festival, and the Lollapalooza event.[13] November will see the duo embark on an 11 date United Kingdom and Ireland tour.[14] La Roux gained fifth position on the BBC's Sound of 2009 poll.[15] The Guardian website featured La Roux on their new band of the day column.[16] The Guardian also featured La Roux as one of the "Best New Acts of 2009" in the January of that year.[1] Band member Elly Jackson has been linked to a pop music trend that features androgynous twenty-something women with a strong individualistic attitude. She has cited musicians David Bowie, Annie Lennox, Prince and actress Molly Ringwald as her influences. She co-designs her own clothing with a friend. Jackson is unhappy with what she perceives as a "normality" fashion trend among a majority of today's musical acts. [17][18]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Album details Chart peak positions Certifications
UK
[19] 		BEL
(VLA)
[20] 		IRL
[21]
2009 La Roux 2 51 11
  • BPI: Silver
  • UK: 66,000

Singles

Year Song Chart peak positions Album
UK
'[19] 		AUS
[23] 		IRE
[21] 		EUR BEL
(VLA)
[20] 		U.S.
HSS
2008 "Quicksand'" 133
[24] 		— — — — 18
[25] 		La Roux
2009 "In for the Kill" 2 50 13 9
[26] 		— —
"Bulletproof" 1 — 7 6 23 —
"I'm Not Your Toy" — — — — — —
"—" denotes did not chart/not yet released

Music videos

Year Music video Director
2009 "Quicksand" Kinga Burza[27][28]
"In for the Kill"
"Bulletproof" The Holograms@UFO[29][30]

Awards

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2009 02 Silver Clef Awards Best Newcomer La Roux Won [31]
Studio8 International Music Awards Best Female Newcomer Elly Jackson Won

References

  1. ^ a b Lovell, Rebecca (2009-01-18). "The Best New Acts of 2009: La Roux". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-04-11. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/roux
  3. ^ http://definition.ptidico.com/rouquin.html
  4. ^ a b c d Killer queen The Guardian 23 May, 2009
  5. ^ Van Hoe, Anthony (2009-03-26). "Videowatch - La Roux - In for the Kill". QueerSighted. Retrieved 2009-04-24.
  6. ^ Grundy, Gareth (2009-03-15). "Electronic review: La Roux, In for the Kill (Skream remix)". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-04-25. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "La Roux - In for the Kill (Lifelike remix)". Kitsuné Music. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
  8. ^ a b La Roux to play London Scala NME 1 June, 2009
  9. ^ "La Roux". BBC Music. Retrieved 2009-04-18.
  10. ^ "La Roux To Support Lily Allen On UK Tour". Gigwise.com. 2009-01-21. Retrieved 2009-04-12.
  11. ^ "La Roux to headline 2009 Samsung NME Radar Tour". NME. 2009-03-03. Retrieved 2009-04-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  12. ^ La Roux, Marmaduke Duke, Big Pink for Reading And Leeds Festivals NME 9 June, 2009
  13. ^ La Roux announce North American tour NME 19 June, 2009
  14. ^ La Roux Announces Massive Autumn UK Tour Festivalwise 8 July, 2009
  15. ^ "BBC Sound of 2009: La Roux". BBC News. 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
  16. ^ "New band of the day- No 433: La Roux". The Guardian. 2008-11-19. Retrieved 2009-01-07. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ Day, Elizabeth (2009-04-19). "Pop's new wave: quirky, stylish girls fashioned from the 80s". The Observer. Retrieved 2009-04-20. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  18. ^ Dingwall, John (2009-05-01). "A Girl Named Roux Leads 80s Revival; Electropop Trendsetter Recaptures the Style of New Romantics for A New Generation of Music Fans". California Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-05-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ a b "La Roux UK Chart Positions". Chart Stats. chartstats.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  20. ^ a b "Discography La Roux - Belgium". Ultratop. Retrieved 2009-07-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ a b "Discography La Roux - Ireland". Irish-Charts. irish-charts.com. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
  22. ^ "La Roux announces debut album's called Harriet Howard". NME. 2009-01-08. Retrieved 2009-01-08. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ "Discography La Roux - Australia". Australian-Charts.com. Retrieved 2009-06-30.
  24. ^ ChartsPlus, issue 405
  25. ^ "La Roux > Hot Singles Sales > Quicksand". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
  26. ^ "European Hot 100 Singles (Chart Listing for the Week of Apr 25 2009)". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. Retrieved 20 April 2009.
  27. ^ Knight, David (December 3, 2008). "La Roux's Quicksand by Kinga Burza". PromoNews. promonews.tv. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  28. ^ Knight, David (February 9, 2009). "La Roux In for the Kill by Kinga Burza". PromoNews. promonews.tv. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  29. ^ "La Roux's Bulletproof by The Holograms". Mathamatic. mathamatic.tv. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  30. ^ Knight, David (2009-05-18). "La Roux In for the Kill by Kinga Burza". PromoNews. promonews.tv. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  31. ^ Take That, Madness Win Silver Clefs Billboard Business News 4 July, 2009

Further Reading

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